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BlogWorld conference leaves Las Vegas for L.A.

Organizers of the world's largest social media conference and trade show announced plans Tuesday to move the annual event from Las Vegas to Los Angeles this year.

BlogWorld & New Media Expo is expected to draw more than 4,000 guests and generate nearly $3 million in spending when it arrives for the three-day event Nov. 3-5.

The expo has been held in Las Vegas for the past four years. But organizers said the Los Angeles Convention Center became the obvious choice to host the event because of the city's connection to the entertainment industry and the recent addition of new shops, restaurants and other attractions in downtown L.A.

In the past, downtown Los Angeles had few attractions to offer conference attendees, said Rick Calvert, chief executive and co-founder of BlogWorld. But that has changed with the completion of the new J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel tower and the L.A. Live entertainment complex, both adjacent to the conference center.

"When I visited L.A., I was blown away by L.A. Live," Calvert said. "I was blown away by the other hotels in downtown L.A."

When the expo was last held in Las Vegas, it attracted about 3,000 attendees, up from 2,000 the previous year, he said.

The event has grown so fast that organizers recently announced the addition of an East Coast expo in New York in May.

--Hugo Martin

(Photo: A panel meets at BlogWorld in 2009 in Las Vegas. Credit: Dave Cynkin and BlogWorld.)